Connecticut: Xavier Surles, 18, is caught beating and kicking dog he was paid by disabled man to walk

CONNECTICUT -- A teenaged dog walker was arrested after police said he was spotted on camera beating one of his charges.

Xavier Surles, 18, of Hough Avenue, was charged with cruelty to animals and interfering with police after state police monitoring Interstate 95 cameras saw him repeatedly beating and kicking a dog.

Surles was released after posting $5,000 bond.

On Aug. 17, state police received a call from a motorist of a man beating a dog in a grass area alongside the turnpike near Nichols Street.

State police said they checked the roadway surveillance cameras and saw a man, later identified as Surles, hold a black dog on a leash while he repeatedly beat and kicked it. Police said the dog was cowering as hit was struck and did not appear aggressive.

When troopers pulled up to the scene police said Surles began yelling and screaming at them and struggled with officers, police said.

Police said the dog, Grizzly, belongs to a disabled man who pays Surles $10 a day to walk the dog.

“He is a really friendly dog,” police said the owner told them. “I got him when he was a month old and bottle fed him.”

(CTPost - Aug 26, 2016)